,  PERT. 


f>  Dept. 


A    BRIEF     HISTORY 

OF   THE 

MEGE     DISCOVERY. 


MICROSCOPICALLY  AND  CHEMICALLY  ANALYZED  BY  THE   MOST  SKILLFUL 
AND  DISTINGUISHED  SCIENTISTS, 

DEMONSTRATING  ITS  PURITY. 


Award  of  the  AMERICAN    INSTITUTE,  and  Opinions  of  PROF.  C.  F.  CHANDLER,  President  of 
the  New  York  Board  of  Health  ;    PROF.  GEORGE  F.  BARKER,  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania;    DR.  HENRY  A.  MOTT.  JR.,  of  New  York;    PROF.  S.  C.  CALDWELL,  of  Cor- 
nell University;  PROF.  S.  W.  JOHNSON,  of  Yale  College;  PROF.  C.  A.  GOESSMANN,<?/ 
the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College  ;   PROF.  HENRY  MORTON,  of  the  Stevens 
Institute  of  Technology,  of  Hoboken ;    DR    CHARLES  P.  WILLIAMS,  of 
Pliiladelphia  ;    PKOF.  ATWATER,  of  the  IVesleyan  University, 
and  PROF.  ARNOLD,  of  the  University  of  New   York. 


NEW   YORK: 
Commercial    Manufacturing  Company   Consolidated, 

48TH    STREET    AND    NORTH    RIVER. 

FRfrJRFft§%  WINTER, 


PACIFIC  COAST  AGENTS, 


E:-.-.rd  J.  -.on. 

A    BRIEF    HISTORY 


OF  THE 


MEGE    DISCOVERY. 


Oleomargarine  lutter 


OR 


MICROSCOPICALLY  AND  CHEMICALLY  ANALYZED  BY  THE   MOST  SKILLFUL 
AND  DISTINGUISHED  SCIENTISTS, 


DEMONSTRATING  ITS  PURITY. 

rx/Ujax  ^r^rv>>jo-W 


Award  of  the  AMERICAN    INSTITUTE,  and  Opinions  of  PROF.  C.  F.  CHANDLER,  President  of 
the  New  York  Board  of  Health  ;    PROF.  GEORGE  F.  BARKER,  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania ;    DR.  HENRY  A.  MOTT,  JR.,  of  New  York;    PROF.  S.  C.  CALDWELL,  of  Cor- 
nell University;  PROF.  S.  W.  JOHNSON,  of  Yale  College;  PROF.  C.  A.  GOESSMANN,  of  . 
the  Massachusetts  Agricultriral  College  ;  PROF.  HENRY  MORTON,  of  the  Stevens 
Institute  of  Technology,  of  Hoboken;   DR.  CHARLES  P.WILLIAMS,  of 
Philadelphia;    PROF.  ATWATER,  of  the  Wesley  an  University, 
and  PROF.  ARNOLD,  of  the  University  of  New  York. 


NEW  YORK: 
Commercial   Manufacturing  Company  Consolidated, 

48TH    STREET    AND    NORTH    RIVER. 
1881. 


M WE  Lib. 


FEINBERG  & 

PACIFIC  COAST  AGENTS, 
205  FRONT  ST.,  San  Francisco. 


OR 


BEFORE  the  Social  Science  Association,  convened  at 
Saratoga  in  the  summer  of  1879,  Mr.  George  T.  An- 
gell  of  Boston,  President  of  the  Society  for  the  Preven- 
tion of  Cruelty  to  Animals,  delivered  an  address  on  the 
Adulteration  of  Food.  He  dwelt  at  length  on  .the  im- 
purity of  oleomargarine  butter  (butterine),  and  'made  a 
series  of  most  unjust  and  unfounded  statements  against 
its  wholesom'eness.  This,  from  a  man  who  does  not 
even  pretend  to  be  a  scientific  man,  and  who  never  made 
a  chemical  analysis  in  his  life,  was  a  pretty  bold  under- 
taking. The  only  groundwork  he  had  for  the  statements 
he  made  were  taken  from  an  article  of  one  John  Michell, 
an  amateur  microscopist  having  no  scientific  standing 
and  whose  labor  in  every  field,  even  to  the  examination 
of  a  drop  of  water,  is  the  subject  of  scientific  ridicule, 
and  who  sold  the  result  of  his  sensational  article  on  oleo- 
margarine to  a  dairy  paper  for  twenty-five  dollars.  It  is 
the  object  of  this  pamphlet  to  present  a  full  and  minute 
examination  of  the  whole  subject  of  oleomargarine, 
briefly  considering  the  result  of  the  investigation  of  the 
leading  scientific  men  in  this  country. 


320910 


BRIEF   HISTORY    OF    THE    MEGE    DISCOVERY. 

The  American  Chemist,  a  monthly  journal  edited  by 
Prof.  C.  F.  Chandler,  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  Colum- 
bia College,  New  York,  and  by  other  eminent  scientific 
men,  published  in  April  of  1874,  an  extract  from  a 
report  made  by  M.  Felix  Baudet,  to  the  Board  of 
Health  of  the  Department  of  the  Seine,  on  the  product 
presented  under  the  name  of  artificial  butter  by  M.  Mege 
Mauries.  It  was  translated  from  the  Moniteur  Scien- 
tifique  by  Fred.  A.  Hoadley,  B.  A.,  and  is  as  follows : 

Some  years  ago,  at  a  time  when  M,  Mege  Mauries, 
commissioned  by  the  government  to  investigate  several 
questions  of  domestic  economy,  was  busy  improving  the 
ordinary  manufacture  of  bread,  he  was  invited  to  make 
some  researches  with  a  view  to  obtain,  for  the  use  of 
the  navy  and  of  the  poorer  classes,  a  product  suitable 
to  take  the  place  of  ordinary  butter,  to  be  sold  at  a  much 
less  price,  and  capable  of  being  kept  without  becoming 
rancid,  as  butter  does  in  a  little  while.  M.  Mege  under- 
took for  this  purpose  the  following 

\ 

EXPERIMENTS    AT    THE    FARM    AT    VINCENNESI 

He  placed  several  milch  cows  on  a  strict  diet;  soon 
these  cows  experienced  a  decrease  in  weight,  and  fur- 
nished a  proportionately  less  amount  of  milk,  but  this 
milk  always  contained  butter.  Where  could  the  butter 
come  from?  M.  Mege  believed  that  it  was  produced 
from  the  fat  of  the  animal,  which,  being  absorbed  and 
carried  into  the  circulation,  was  deprived  of  its  stearine 
by  respiratory  combustion,  and  furnished  its  oleomarga- 


rine  to  the  udders,  where,  under  the  influence  of  the 
mammary  pepsin,  it  was  changed  into  butyric  oleomarga- 
rine ;  that  is  to  say,  into  butter.  Guided  by  this  infor- 
mation, M.  Mege  attempted  immediately  to  copy  the 
natural  operation,  by  using  at  first  cow's  fat,  then  beef 
suet;  and  he  was  not  long  in  obtaining,  by  a  process  as 
simple  as  it  is  ingenious,  a  fat  fusible,  at  nearly  the  same 
temperature  as  butter,  of  a  sweet  and  agreeable  taste. 
He  then  succeeded  in  transforming  this  same  fat  into 
butter,  by  a  process  similar  to  that  of  nature.  Starting 
from  the  well-known  fact  that  fats  are  changed  in  the 
presence  of  animal  substances,  and  with  a  rapidity  so 
much  the  greater  according  as  they  are  the  longer  in 
contact  with  them,  and  according  as  the  temperature  is 
the  more  elevated,  he  endeavored  first  to  melt  some  beef 
fat  at  a  temperature  of  only  forty-five  or  fifty  degrees; 
he  obtained  in  this  way  a  product  without  taste  and  free 
from  foreign  odor,  which  afforded  an  excellent  base  for 
the  preparation  of  butter.  He  accomplished  this  as 
follows : 


of  the  best  quality  was  ground  up  between  two  cylin- 
ders, whose  conical  teeth  crushed  it  and  tore  open  the 
membranes  which  enveloped  it.  After  having  under- 
gone this  grinding,  it  fell  into  a  deep  vat  heated  by 
steam,  and  into  which  there  was  turned  for  every  thou- 
sand kilogrammes  of  fat  three  hundred  kilogrammes  of 
water.  The  temperature  of  the  mixture  was  then  car- 
ried to  45°  centigrade,  and  the  mass  was  carefully 
stirred.  At  the  end  of  two  hours  the  fat  separated  from 
the  membranes  which  enveloped  it.  By  means  of  a 
flexible  tube,  tipped  with  the  knob  of  a  sprinkling  pot, 


6 

it  is  then  led  off  into  a  second  vat,  heated  by  a  water- 
bath  to  thirty  or  forty  degrees,  when  there  is  added 
two  per  cent,  of  sea  salt,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  depura- 
tion. In  two  hours  this  fat  is  separated  from  the  frag- 
ments of  animal  substances  which  have  escaped  the 
dissolving  action  of  the  pepsin,  and  from  the  water 
which  it  still  retains ;  it  becomes  clear  and  presents  a 
beautiful  yellow  color,  and  an  odor  very  similar  to  that 
of  butter  newly  churned.  It  may  now  be  solidified  in 
tin  coolers  of  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  liters  capacity. 
These  coolers,  as  soon  as  they  are  filled,  are  placed  in  a 
room  maintained  at  a  temperature  of  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  degrees,  where  they  are  slowly  cooled.  The  fol- 
lowing day  the  fat,  having  acquired  a  semi-solid 
consistence,  presents  a  granulated  appearance,  as  if 
crystallized,  which  renders  it  very  suitable  for  subjection 
to  the  action  of  a  press.  It  is  then  cut  into  cakes, 
packed  in  linen  and  placed  under  a  hydraulic  press. 
Under  the  influence  of  careful  pressure,  in  a  room 
maintained  at  a  temperature  of  about  twenty-five  de- 
grees, this  fat  is  separated  into  two  very  nearly  equal 
parts ;  one,  which  represents  forty  or  fifty  per  cent,  of 
the  material,  is  the  stearine,  fusible  between  fifty  and 
fifty-nine  degrees,  which  remains  in  the  linen ;  the 
other  is  the  liquid  oleomargarine,  in  amount  equal  to 
five  or  six  tenths  of  the  fat  upon  which  we  operated. 
The  stearine  is  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  can- 
dles ;  it  may  be  used  to  make  stearine  candles  or  stea- 
rine acid  candles.  As  for  the  oleomargarine,  when  it 
has  been  congealed  by  cooling,  it  presents  a  granulated 
appearance,  a  color  slightly  yellow,  and  an  agreeable 
taste.  Besides,  it  melts  perfectly  in  the  mouth,  like  but- 
ter, while  beef  fat,  under  the  same  condition,  is  sepa- 


rated  into  oleomargarine,  which  dissolues  into  stearine, 
which  adheres  more  or  less  to  the  palate.  The  oleo- 
margarine thus  obtained,  passed  through  cylinders 

UNDER  A  SHOWER  OF  WATER, 

in  order  to  wash  it  and  give  to  it  a  homogeneous  con- 
sistence, constitutes  an  excellent  cooking  substance, 
and  is  intended  to  replace,  with  advantage  and  with 
economy,  the  different  fats,  and  even  butter,  in  ordinary 
cooking.  It  is  especially  valuable  for  the  navy  on  ac- 
count of  the  facility  with  which  it  may  be  preserved  a 
very  long  time  without  becoming  rancid.  It  is  actually 
sold  in  Paris  under  the  name  of  margarine,  at  from 
eighty  centimes  to  a  franc  for  half  a  kilogramme.  It  is 
already  very  much  in  demand.  It  is  with  oleomarga- 
rine that  M.  Mege,  by  operating  in  the  following 
manner,  makes  his  butter:  Having  observed  that  the 
mammary  glands  of  the  cow,  which  secrete  the  milk, 
contain  a  peculiar  substance,  a  kind  of  pepsin,  endowed 
with  the  power  of  emulsionizing  fat  with  water,  he  used 
this  observation  to  transform  the  oleomargarine  into 
cream,  and  finally  this  cream  into  butter.  He  placed 
in  a  churn  fifty  kilogrammes  of  oleomargarine  melted, 
about  twenty-five  liters  of  cow's  milk,  which  represent 
less  than  one  kilogramme  of  butter,  and  twenty-five  kil- 
ogrammes of  water  containing  the  soluble  parts  of  100 
grains  of  the  mammary  glands  of  the  cow,  very  finely 
divided  and  kept  for  some  time  in  .maceration.  He 
adds  a  small  quantity  of  annotto,  in  order  to  give  the 
color.  The  churn  is  then  set  in  motion,  and  at  the  end 
of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  oleo  and  the  water  become 
emulsionized  and  transformed  into  a  thick  cream,  simi- 


8 

lar  to  that  of  milk.  By  continuing  the  motion  of  the 
churn  the  cream  changes  in  its  turn  into  butter,  in  a 
longer  or  shorter  time,  according  to  the  conditions  of 
the  operation — usually  two  hours  suffice.  The  churn- 
ing being  ended,  some  cold  water  is  poured  into  the 
churn,  and  the  butter  separates,  containing,  like  ordinary 
butter,  buttermilk.  The  product  is  then  placed  in  an 
apparatus  like  a  kneading  machine,  and  composed  of 
two  cylindrical  crushers  placed  under  a  stream  of  water. 
There  it  is  worked  in  a  way  to  change  it  into  well- 
washed  butter,  of  fine  and  homogeneous  consistence. 
This  butter,  washed  with  water  at  the  ordinary  temper- 
ature, contains,  according  to  my  experiments  performed 
with  L.  Hote  in  the  laboratory  of  M.  Peligot,  12.5  per 
cent,  of  water,  leaving  a  residue  when  dissolved  in  ether 
weighing  1.20  for  every  hundred  grammes  in  the  dry 
state,  and  of  two  specimens,  one  solidified.  I  mean  by 
solidification  point  the  thermometric  degrees  observed 
at  the  moment  when  the  instrument, 

PLUNGED    INTO    THE    LIQUID    BUTTER, 

ceases  for  an  instant  to  fall,  at  the  same  time  the  but- 
ter commences  to  become  solid,  and  rises  soon  by  the 
influence  of  the  heat  generated  by  the  solidification  at 
twenty-two  degrees,  the  other  at  seventeen  degrees, 
while  beef  fat  becomes  solid  between  thirty-two  and 
thirty-three  degrees.  For  the  fine  merchantable  butter 
of  Paris  I  have  found  nineteen  degrees  as  the  point  of 
solidification.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  found  22.2 
degrees  for  the  ordinary  butter  of  Calvado.  According 
to  the  experiments  of  M.  Bouissingault  in  butter  care- 
fully prepared,  well  washed  and  dried,  the  proportion 


9 

of  water  is  from  thirteen  to  fourteen  percent.  It  in- 
creases to  eighteen  and  to  twenty  and  twenty-four  per 
cent,  in  the  market  butter  of  ordinary  and  inferior 
quality.  I  have  found  11.94  per  cent,  in  the  butter  of 
Isigny  and  13.38  per  cent,  in  the  ordinary  butter  of  the 
Calvados. 

"  In  regard  to  the  caseous  matter  insoluble  in  the 
ether,  the  butter  of  Isigny,  first  quality,  gave  me  3.13 
grammes  in  100  grammes  of  the  dry  substance,  while  I 
have  obtained  only  1.20  grammes  in  100  of  the  dry 
residue  with  the  butter  of  M.  Mege.  This  artificial 
butter  presents,  then,  this  advantage,  that  it  contains 
much  less  water  and  animal  substance,  which  makes  the 
ordinary  commercial  butter  rancid;  moreover,  for  the 
same  weight,  it  furnishes  more  genuine  butter.  The 
two  circumstances  assist,  without  doubt,  in  its  preser- 
vation, which  is  much  more  perfect  than  that  of  com- 
mon butter.  They  also  prevent  it  from  acquiring  the 
odor  and  the  acridity  which  are  soon  developed  in  the 
latter.  During  warm  weather,  when  ordinary  butter 
can  with  difficulty  be  preserved  from  melting,  it  is  easy 
to  give  to  the  artificial  butter  a  more  or  less  solid  con- 
sistence by  preparing  an  oleomargarine  more  or  less 
free  from  stearine.  On  the  other  hand,  M.  Mege  has 
observed  that  by  washing  his  butter  with  water  at  a 
temperature  of  only  five  or  six  degrees,  he  is  able  to 
leave  in  it  less  water,  and  thus  to  obtain  a  product 
capable  of  being  kept  a  very  long  time.  <  A  specimen 
of  butter  thus  prepared,  and  which  M.  Mege  called 
'  butter  without  water,'  carried  from  Paris  to  Vienna, 
in  Austria,  the  29th  of  October,  1871,  has  just  been 
brought  back,  on  the  5th  of  April,  and  is  found  still, 
after  five  months, 


10 


IN    A    GOOD    STATE    OF    PRESERVATION. 

"  In  order  to  fully  appreciate  the  value  of  the  prod- 
uct of  M.  Mege  as  regards  domestic  economy  and 
hygiene,  I  have  requested  several  of  my  colleagues  to 
try  the  oleomargarine  and  the  artificial  butter ;  I  have 
submitted  this  product  to  the  judgment  of  several 
breeders  and  butter  merchants  of  the  Auge  valley;  I 
have  used  it  myself  also  in  my  household,  and  we  have 
all  been  of  the  opinion  that  the  oleomargarine  consti- 
tutes an  excellent  butter  for  the  kitchen,  and  that  if  the 
artificial  butter  has  not  the  fine  and  aromatic  taste  of 
the  Normandy  butter  for  eating  with  bread,  or  use  in 
culinary  preparations,  it  does  afford,  in  many  other  re- 
spects, the  qualities  of  ordinary  butter  perfectly.  The 
experiments  which  I  have  witnessed  in  the  works  of  M. 
Mege,  those  which  I  have  myself  made,  or  which  have 
been  made  at  my  instance  on  the  new  products  which 
he  has  brought  forward,  authorize  me  to  believe  that  he 
has  realized  a  happy  application  of  his  knowledge  and 
his  inventive  genius  in  this  employment  of  beef  fat,  and 
that  he, has  furnished  for  consumption  two  new  and 
important  products.  The  first,  called  oleomargarine, 
offers  a  valuable  material  for  cooking  purposes,  espe- 
cially for  naval  vessels  during  long  voyages,  by  reason 
of  its  good  quality,  and  of  its  capability  of  long  and  ex- 
cellent preservation.  The  second,  possessed  of  proper- 
ties which  allow  of  its  close  comparison  with  butter  in 
a  chemical  point  of  view,  as  well  as  regards  its  uses, 
may  take  the  place  of  the  latter  in  many  instances;  and 
in  consequence  of  the  small  expense  at  which  it  can  be 
made,  it  has  been  put  in  competition  with  milk  butter, 
which  will  lower  necessarily  the  price  of  the  latter,  to 


11 

the  benefit  of  the  consumer,  which  will  render  the  con- 
sumption of  it  less  considerable,  and  will  allow  the 
breeders  to  devote  a  greater  quantity  of  milk  to  the 
raising  of  calves,  a  great  advantage  to  this  industry. 

"As  regards  healthfulness,  it  is  evident  that  the 
origin  and  preparation  of  these  two  products  presented 
by  M.  Mege  do  not  afford  any  circumstance  which  can 
render  their  consumption  a  matter  of  suspicion.  There 
is,  then,  no  reason  for  opposing  the  sale  of  these  products, 
if  we  include  the  proviso  that  that  which  M.  Mege  Mau- 
ries  compares  to  butter  is  not  really  butter  in  the  usual 
and  true  acceptation  of  the  word.  It  should  not  be  sold 
under  the  name  of  butter,  but  under  a  particular  desig- 
nation, which  will  permit  it  to  be  distinguished  from 
butter  properly  so  called,  or  milk  butter." 

THE  AUTHORITY  ABOVE  QUOTED, 

in  a  chemical  and  scientific  point  of  view,  bearing  on  any 
ordinary  subject,  would  not  be  questioned,  but  would  be 
sufficient  to  convince  any  candid  and  intelligent  mind 
that  there  cannot  be  a  shadow  of  doubt  as  to  the  impor- 
tance of  this  discovery  and  the  great  benefits  derived 
therefrom  by  furnishing  to  the  people  a  healthful  article 
of  diet. 

Yet  when  we  consider  that  this  new  product  is  put 
forward  as  a  substitute  for  butter,  an  article  which 
enters  into  the  daily  consumption  of  every  family  in  this 
and  other  civilized  countries,  it  is  evident  that  a  matter 
of  such  vast  importance  is  worthy  of  careful  investiga- 
tion. "The  Encyclopedia  Britannica*  the  highest  au- 

*  Johnson's  Encyclopedia,  Vol.  i,  p.  685;  American  Encylopedia,  Vol. 
12.  p.  614. 


12 

thority  known,  treats  of  oleomargarine  butter  (butterine, 
as  it  is  known  in  Europe)  as  follows,  in  volume  four, 
under  the  title  of  '  Butter.'  " 

"  Under  the  name  of  butterine,  an  artificial  substitute 
for  butter  has  been  introduced  in  America  and  imported 
into  England  from  New  York.  It  is  the  same  as  the 
artificial  butter,  or  '  margarine-mauries'  which  has  been 
for  some  years  manufactured  in  Paris  according  to  a 
method  made  public  by  the  eminent  chemist,  M.  Mege 
Mauries.  Having  surmised  that  the  formation  of  butter 
contained  in  milk  was  due  to  the  absorbtion  of  fat 
contained  in  the  animal  tissues,  M.  Mauries  was  led  to 
experiment  upon  the  splitting  up  of  animal  fat.  The 
process  he  ultimately  adopted  consisted  in  heating  finely 
minced  beef  suet  with  water.  The  mixture  he  raised  to 
a  temperature  of  45°  C.  (113°  Fahr.)  He  removed  the 
fatty  matter  and  submitted  it,  when  cool,  to  powerful 
hydraulic  pressure,  separating  it  into  stearine  and  oleo- 
margarine, which  last  alone  he  used  for  butter-making. 
Of  this  oil,  about  the  proportion  of  ten  pounds,  with  four 
pints  of  milk  and  three  pints  of  water,  were  placed  in  a 
churn,  to  which  a  small  quantity  of  annotto  was  added 
for  coloring,  and  the  whole  churned  together.  The 
product  so  obtained,  when  well  washed,  was,  in  general 
appearance,  taste,  and  consistency,  like  ordinary  butter, 
and  when  well  freed  from  water,  it  was  found  to  keep  a 
longer  time.  According  to  French  official  reports,  arti- 
ficial butter  goes  much  farther  as  food  than  the  genuine 
//  article,  and  forms  a  perfectly  wholesome  dietic  material. 
The  Parisian  octroi  officials  have  recognized  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  substitute  by  imposing  on  it  the  same  du- 
ties which  are  chargeable  on  ordinary  butter.  The 
company  was  established,  and  the  manufacture  in  France 


13 

had  in  1874,  seven  manufactories,  in  which  400  men 
were  employed."  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  pro- 
duct obtained  by  the  process  of  M.  Mege  Mauries  is  a 
safe  and  more  wholesome  article  than  the  unsavory, 
rancid  butter  which  is  sold  so  extensively.  We  find 
this  industry  was  practically  established,  and  its  product 
introduced  into  commerce  in  the  large  cities  of  the 
East,  where  the  demand  and  consumption  of  oleomar- 
garine butter  grew  so  rapidly  that  much  capital  was 
applied  to  its  manufacture,  by  the  erection  of  large 
factories,  on  such  an  expensive  scale  that  the  great  mass 
of  butter  made  by  the  old  dairy  system  was  forced  out 
of  the  market,  at  a  heavy  loss  to  the  producer  and  com- 
mission merchant  who  had  made  his  advances.  This 
led  to  the  organization  of  a  society  composed  of  farmers 
and  commission  men,  who  enlisted  in  one  common  cause, 
banded  together,  raised  subscriptions  to  employ  private 
policemen  and  detectives,  and  adopted  every  unfair 
meansto  injure  and  destroy  the  manufacture  of  this  prod, 
uct.  Falsehoods  the  most  malignant  were  industriously 
circulated;  prejudices  were  played  upon,  and  artful  and 
unconstitutional  laws  were  passed,  to  assist  them  in  their 
attempts  to  crush  a  rival  so  formidable  to  the  old  method 
of  producing  butter.  Laws  were  passed  to  suit  their 
purposes,  not  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  people. 
Special  acts  were  passed  in  nearly  all  the  States  where 
the  industry  had  been  established ;  yet,  in  the  face  of  all 
legislation  and  misrepresentation,  oleomargarine  grew 
rapidly  into  favor. 

THIS    CONTINUAL    AND    BITTER    OPPOSITION 

led  the  thinking  portion    of  the  public  to  investigate 


14 

for  themselves,  whereupon  the  superiority  of  oleomar- 
garine to  a  large  proportion  of  dairy  butter  was  proved. 
As  a  last  resort  the  organization  called  to  their  assis- 
tance one  John  Michell,  a  so-called  microscopist,  who 
claimed  to  discover  that  the  product  contained  numbers 
of  living  objects.  These  assertions  were  published 
broadcast,  with  a  view  to  alarm  unthinking  people. 
This  vicious  misrepresentation  was  taken  up  by  the 
manufacturers  of  oleomargarine  butter  ;  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  exposing  the  false  statements  made  by  Michell, 
had  their  several  products  critically  examined  under 
the  microscope,  and  compared  with  dairy  butter,  by  the 
highest  authority  in  this  country  in  that  branch  of 
science,  Prof.  J.  W.  S.  Arnold,  of  the  University  Med- 
ical College  of  New  York,  and  the  result  was  published 
in  a  letter  from  Dr.  Mott  in  the  New  York  Times,  from 
which  the  following  is  taken  : 


"OLEOMARGARINE    BUTTER— RECENT 
MICROSCOPIC   TESTS. 

"  PROF.    MOTX'S    REPLY    TO    JOHN     MICHELL COMPARATIVE 

PURITY    OF    DAIRY    BUTTER   AND    THE 
ARTICLE    OF    COMMERCE. 

"  Prof.  Mott  has  recently  made  microscopic  tests  of 
samples  of  dairy  butter  and  oleomargarine  butter. 
The  result  of  his  labors  will  be  found  in  the  subjoined 
communication.  He  shows  a  grade  of  purity  in  the 
new  article  of  commerce,  and  in  what  particulars  it 
equals  certain  grades  of  dairy  butter. 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  New  York  Times — In  a  recent 
number  of  a  dairy  organ  there  appeared  an  article  on 


15 

oleomargarine,  by  one  John  Michell,  the  object  of  which 
was  evidently  an  attempt  to  damage  the  oleomargarine 
industry.  The  writer  presents  two  microscopical  plates 
illustrating  oleomargarine  butter  and  natural  butter  as 
they  appear  under  the  microscope  to  him.  I  hardly 
know  how  to  express  myself  with  respect  to  Mr.  Michell, 
but  one  thing  is  certain,  that  this  plate  representing 
oleomargarine  butter  was  either  intentionally  originated 
to  create  a  sensation,  or  that  Mr.  Michell  himself  is  a 
person  perfectly  incompetent  to  make  microscopical 
investigations.  This,  I  think,  will  be  clearly  demon- 
.strated  to  any  fair-minded  man  farther  on  in  this 
paper.  Mr.  Michell  states  in  his  article  that  the  close 
resemblance  of  oleomargarine  to  butter  suggested  to 
him  the  propriety  of  making  a  microscopical  examina- 
tion of  both  substances,  to  see  if  they  could  be  distin- 
guished by  such  means.  This  suggestion  was  a  good 
one,  and,  had  he  carried  it  out  conscientiously,  science 
would  be  at  least  benefited  by  examination.  Seeing 
the  importance  of  a  thorough  microscopical  investiga- 
tion after  such  gross  misrepresentations  as  have  been 
presented  by  Mr.  Michell,  I  visited  Prof.  J.  W.  S.  Ar- 
nold, Professor  of  Histology  and  Microscopy  in  the 
University  Medical  College  of  this  city,  who  is  acknowl- 
edged to  be  one  of  the  leading  microscopists  in  this 
country,  and  engaged  him  to  make  the  investigation. 
Not  being  satisfied  with  a  microscopical  examination 
of  the  butter  alone,  I  determined  to  have  examined 
caul-fat,  stearine,  oleomargarine  (before  being  churned), 
and  oleomargarine  butter,  and  compare  the  same  with 
natural  butter,  both  pure  and  rancid.  The  samples 
examined  by  Prof.  Arnold  were  obtained  from  the  Com- 
mercial Manufacturing  Company,  by  myself  in  person, 
and  given  to  him. 


i6 


"  Figure  i  represents  caul-fat  under  the  microscope, 
the  crystalline  nature  and  adipose  tissue  being  clearly 
seen,  as  also  a  globule  of  oil. 


Fig.  i. 


"  Figure    2    represents    oleomargarine    before    it   is 
churned,  or  what  is  known  as  oleomargarine  oil.     It 


Fig.    2. 


will  be  seen  from  this  plate  that  oleomargarine  before 
being  churned  is  entirely  in  a  crystalline  condition. 


"  It  will  be  necessary,  before  proceeding  to  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  other  plate,  to  explain  the  cause  of  crystalli- 
zation. The  crystalline  condition  of  oleomargarine  oil 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  oil  is  allowed  to  cool  gradu- 
ally, and  then  crystallized  to  a  solid  condition.  To 
demonstrate  this  point  most  emphatically  to  your  read- 
ers, I  directed  Prof.  Arnold  to  melt  a  sample  of  natural 
butter,  allow  the  same  to  cool  slowly  to  a  solid  con- 
dition, and  then  make  a  microscopical  examination,  the 
result  of  which  is  illustrated  in  Figure  3. 


Fig-  3- 


"  From  this  figure  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  the 
mass  is  entirely  crystallized,  and  in  no  way  differs  from 
oleomargarine  oil,  as  shown  in  Figure  2. 

"  Figure  4  represents  oleomargarine  butter,  and  Fig- 
ure 5  natural  butter.  It  will  be  seen  by  examination 
of  these  two  figures  that  they  consist  of  an  innumer- 
able number  of  minute  globules  of  varying  size,  but  not 
a  trace  of  a  crystal  appears  in  either ;  nor  is  there  seen 
any  contorted  shape,  imaginary  figures  or  bodies,  as 
2 


i8 


represented  in  Figure  6,  which  is  Michell's  representa- 
tion of  oleomargarine  butter. 


Fig.  4. 


"  I  quote  the  following  paragraph  from  an  article  pub- 
lished by  Michell  on  the  '  Microscope  and  its  Misrep- 


resentations':    'The  fact  that  most   skillful  microsco- 
pists  of  the  age  all  differ  upon  the  true  appearance  of  a 


19  ' 

common  and  not  very  minute  object,  and  the  micro- 
scope itself  presenting  to  the  vision  the  most  opposite 
appearances  of  one  and  the  same  object,  should  act  as 
a  caution  to  those  who  accept  too  readily  theories 
based  upon  microscopical  researches.'  If  this  remark- 
able and  spontaneous  effusion  is  true  about  skillful 
microscopists,  how  much  more  important  it  is  to  re- 
ceive with  the  very  greatest  caution  the  inaccurate  or 
manufactured  results  of  an  amateur  microscopist!  The 


Fig.  6. 

remarkable  illustration  by  Michell,  shown  in  Figure  6, 
when  compared  with  the  accurate  illustration  by  Prof. 
Arnold,  shows  at  once  that  the  former  was  obtained 
by  a  person  perfectly  incompetent  to  make  a  microscop- 
ical examination.  If  Michell  did  obtain  under  the 
microscope  any  such  illustration  as  shown  in  Figure  6, 
it  only  demonstrates  more  clearly  how  incompetent  he 
is  to  make  the  examination  ;  for  the  contorted-shaped 
bodies  can  only  be  explained  (if  at  all)  by  the  glass 
cover  pressing  too  hard  on  the  butter  under  examina- 


20 

tion.  The  crystals  of  fat  which  are  represented  are 
seldom  present  in  freshly  made  oleomargarine  or  nat- 
ural butter,  but  sometimes  form  after  either  butter  has 
been  kept  for  some  time.  If  the  butter  softens,  crys- 
tals of  fat  are  formed  when  it  solidifies  again,  in  both 
cases. 

"  In  the  editorial  notice  on  Mr.  Michell's  article  I 
find  the  following :  '  The  writer  does  not  intimate  that 
these  crystals  are  noxious  or  hurtful,  or  that  their  pres- 
ence imparts  any  impure  taint  to  the  mass  in  which 
they  are  so  plentifully  distributed.  It,  however,  is  evi- 
dent that  just  in  proportion  to  their  extent  the  mass  of 
which  they  form  a  component  part  must  be  less  rich, 
and  correspondingly  less  nutritious  than  the  butter, 
which  is  wholly  butter,  and  nothing  else.'  The  last 
part  of  this  paragraph  is  so  absurdly  ridiculous  that 
I  hardly  think  it  requires  answering;  but,  fearing  that 
your  readers  might  accept  the  same  without  giving 
thought  to  it  (as  it  was  undoubtedly  written  without 
proper  thought  or  consideration),  I  think  it  may  be  well 
to  answer  it,  and  in  the  shortest  way  possible,  which  I 
will  do  by  asking  a  simple  question :  Is  crystallized 
sugar  'less  rich,  and  correspondingly  less  nutritious,' 
than  powdered  sugar?  If  you  think  so,  just  powder 
some  of  the  crystals  and  try  it.  (Is  ice  less  pure  than 
the  water  out  of  which  it  forms  ?) 

u  Figure  7  represents  a  sample  of  rancid  butter 
bought  on  Eleventh  Avenue,  the  retail  price  being 
twenty  cents  a  pound.  It  will  be  seen  on  examining 
this  figure  that  dark,  black  indentations  are  to  be  seen 
in  most  of  the  globules,  showing  that  decomposition 
is  in  progress.  This  decomposition  is  the  first  stage 
of  putrifaction,  which  can  only  take  place  by  the 


21 


growth  and  development  of  multitudes  of  minute  or- 
ganisms. All  of  the  soluble  fats  which  give  the  aroma 
and  delicate  flavor  of  butter  are,  by  the  growth  of  the 
organisms,  decomposed  into  rancid  acids,  which,  when 
taken  internally,  bring  about  a  general  disorder  of  the 
system,  producing  '  violent  cramping  and  purging,  and 
often  setting  up  putrefaction  in  the  tissues.'  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  a  very  large  per  cent,  of  the  sick- 
ness among  the  poorer  classes  is  due  to  the  use  of 


Fig.  7. 


rancid  butter,  who,  before  the  introduction  of  oleomar- 
garine butter,  were  compelled  to  buy  it,  owing  to  the 
high  price  of  a  better  article.  I  say  owing  to  the  high 
price  of  a  better  article  :  this  statement  is  not  altogether 
correct ;  for,  if  they  had  the  inclination  to  buy  a  pure 
sweet  article,  free  from  rancidity,  it  would  be,  under 
the  present  condition  of  things,  an  impossibility  to 
supply  their  demand.  It  is  the  admission  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  American  Dairymen's  Association  that 
only  five  per  cent,  of  the  800,000,000  pounds — the  an- 


22 


nual  production  of  butter — is  a  perfect  article.  Mr. 
Curtiss,  to  explain  this  statement,  says  the  five  per 
cent,  means  the  '  strictly  fancy '  butter,  and  that  at 
least  twenty-five  per  cent,  will  be  pronounced  fine, 
while  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  butter  is  sweet  and  palat- 
able, and  also  wholesome.  This  explanation,  although 
somewhat  more  favorable  to  dairymen,  is  certainly  not 
saying  very  much.  To  think  that,  by  their  own  admis- 
sion, 400,000,000  pounds  of  butter  sold  in  this  country 


Fig  8. 

is  offered  at  a  somewhat  lower  price  than  the  price  of 
good  butter,  because  it  is  in  a  state  of  decomposition, 
tainted  by  rancid  acids  and  swarming  with  minute  or- 
ganisms; and  because  of  its  cheapness,  the  poor  people 
had  to  purchase  it  before  the  introduction  of  oleomar- 
garine butter!  Does  this  speak  well  for  the  dairymen? 
No :  it  only  speaks  for  the  filthiness  of  the  dairy  ;  for 
cleanliness  is  nine-tenths  of  the  secret  of  making  a 
pure,  sweet  butter.  One  drop  of  milk  left  in  the  milk- 
pail,  the  milk-pan,  or  the  churn,  soon  becomes  the 


23 

proper  medium  for  the  growth  and  development  of  the 
numerous  germs  of  life  which  float  in  our  atmosphere 
— fermentation  and  putrefaction  of  this  little  drop  of 
milk  soon  take  place.  Add  now  to  either  of  these 
different  apparatuses  fresh  milk  or  cream,  and  that 
which  was  fresh  and  sweet  before  adding  is  now  tainted, 
itself  in  the  process  of  decomposition. 

"  Figure  8  represents  stearine,  which  will  be  seen  to 
be  in  an  entirely  crystalline  condition.  The  following 
is  the  report  of  Prof.  J.  W.  S.  Arnold  on  the  samples 
examined  by  him,  all  of  which  I  carefully  examined 
myself,  and  can  verify  the  accuracy  of  his  investigation  : 

"  PHYSIOLOGICAL  LABORATORY,  MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT, 

UNIVERSITY  OF  NEW  YORK,  June  17,  1878. 
"  DR.  H.  W.  MOTT,  JR.  : 

''  My  Dear  Sir — I  have  made  a  careful  microscopical  examination  of 
the  samples  of  caul-fat,  stearine,  and  oleomargarine  which  you  placed 
in  my  hands.  These  substances  are  entirely  free  from  any  impurity 
or  injurious  material  detectable  by  the  microscope.  I  have  also  sub- 
mitted the  oleomargarine  butter  -to  a  similar  examination,  comparing 
it  with  natural  butter,  and  finding  the  oleomargarine  butter  to  consist 
of  exceedingly  clear  and  beautiful  oil  globules,  a  sufficient  proof  of 
its  purity.  The  specimen  of  rancid  butter  shows  very  nicely  the  gran- 
ular and  irregular  oil  globules  characteristic  of  decomposing  fat.  I 
send  you  a  series  of  photo-micrographs  of  the  various  fats  and  butter 
examined.  The  magnifying  power  equals  a  four-tenths  objective  and 
1 A '  eye-piece. 

'"  Very»truly  yours, 

"  J.  W.  S.  ARNOLD,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

"  Further  reference  to  Mr.  Michell's  article  almost 
seems  a  waste  of  time ;  but,  as  he  makes  some  sensa- 
tional remarks  about  finding  in  the  butter  '  parts  of  the 
tissue  of  the  animal,  with  fragments  and  cells  of  a  sus- 
picious character,'  and  then  in  connection  with  these 
remarks,  speaking  of  trichinee,  and  of  diseases  which 


24 

can  be  communicated  from  animals  to  man.  Although 
there  is  not  the  least  foundation  for  his  imaginary 
speculations,  I  think  it  well  to  answer  a  few  of  the 
more  prominent  ones.  In  the  first  place,  if  Mr.  Michell 
understood  how  to  prepare  a  slide  with  oleomargarine 
butter  for  microscopical  examination,  he  would  have  ob- 
tained results  which  could  not  be  distinguished  from  the 
result  obtained  when  natural  butter  is  examined,  as 
demonstrated  by  Figures  4  and  5.  Then  he  would  not 
have  discovered  any  tissue  and  remarkable  cells;  but, 

NOT    KNOWING    HOW    TO    EXAMINE    A    SAMPLE, 

he  obtained  any  number  of  distorted-shaped  bodies, 
which  were  entirely  the  result  of  ignorance  or  intentional 
misrepresentation.  Again:  Michell  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that,  as  the  fat  is  never  submitted  to  a  higher  tem- 
perature than  120°  Fahrenheit,  'it  is  merely  liquefied, 
and  that  it  would  appear  to  follow  the  germs  of  disease 
(or  their  equivalent  morbid  secretions);  andembryoes  of 
parasites  are  thus  liable  to  be  transferred  in  a  living 
condition  into  the  system  of  those  who  make  use  of  this 
substance/ 

"  The  best  answer  to  these  remarks  is  probably  a  con- 
fession which  Mr.  Michell  made  to  me  personally  when 
he  stated  that,  in  all  his  examinations  and  in  all  his 
readings,  he  had  never  seen  or  heard  of  germs  of  disease 
or  embryoes  of  parasites  in  caul-fat  And  still,  acquainted 
with  those  facts,  he  was  unprincipled  enough  to  insinu- 
ate directly  to  the  contrary.  I  give  below  a  few  para- 
graps  from  some  correspondence  which  has  been  carried 
on  respecting  this  subject  by  two  of  the  highest  authori- 
ties in  this  country  on  any  subject  connected  with  para- 


25 

sites.     The  first  is  from  a  letter  by  Prof.  A.  E.  Verrill, 
A.  M.,  S.  B.  of  Yale  College. 

"  In  regard  to  worms  in  beef  fat,  I  will  state  definitely  that  no  such 
instances  are  known  to  occur.  Nor  has  trichinae  been  observed  either 
in  the  fat  or  flesh,  except  when  the  embryoes  have  been  purposely 
fed  to  the  animals  before  killing  them  (for  experimental  purposes). 

"The  second  is  from  two  letters  by  Prof.  William  H. 
Brewer,  also  of  Yale  College : 

"The  idea  that  oleomargarine  is  more  dangerous  than  butter,  be- 
cause heated  to  only  120  degrees  Fahrenheit,  is  simply  nonsense. 

"  Professor  Brewer  also  gave  the  following  written 
answers  to  the  questions  cited  below : 

"  First — Do  parasites,  that  could  find  their  way  into  the  human  sys- 
tem through  the  use  of  oleomargarine  as  food,  infest  the  bovine  race  ? 

"  To  this  I  answer :  '  Not  that  I  have  ever  heard  of.  If  such  exist, 
science  has  not  yet  found  them.  The  bovine  race,  like  most  other 
creatures,  have  parasites,  but  no  species  has  yet  been  described  which 
would  be  transmitted  to  man  in  that  way.' 

"  Second — Can  the  microscope  be  relied  on  to  distinguish  between 
the  butter  fats,  whether  natural  or  artificial  ? 

"  On  this  I  cannot  speak  with  certainty.  My  belief  is  that  it  can- 
not, so  far  as  the  mere  fats  are  concerned ;  but  that  it  would  be  an 
aid  to  chemistry,  in  the  hands  of  a  skillful  expert,  to  distinguish  be- 
tween butter  and  other  compounds  of  which  such  fats  are  ingredients. 

"  Third — Is  not  oleomargarine,  as  made  by  the  Mege  patent,  as 
wholesome  and  nutritious  as  cream  butter? 

"  So  far  as  chemistry  and  common  sense  suggest,  I  see  no  reason 
why  it  should  not  be  as  wholesome  and  nutritious  as  cream  butter, 
and  will  so  believe  unless  its  actual  use  demonstrates  to  the  contrary. 


oleomargarine  to  be  entirely  free  from  *  any  impurity 
or  injurious  material,'  and  shows  that  oleomargarine 
butter,  instead  of  consisting  of  '  crystals  and  tissues  of 
animals,  with  fragments  and  cells  of  a  suspicious  char- 
acter,' consists  of  exceedingly  '  clear  and  beautiful  oil 
globules,'  the  same  as  the  purest  natural  butter. 
Although  this  investigation  has  taken  a  great  deal  of 


26 

time,  with  the  assistance  of  the  ablest  scientific  men  in 
the  country  to  refute  the  gross  misrepresentations  of 
Mr.  Michell,  it  will  have  two  effects :  one,  to  more 
publicly  establish  the  remarkable  purity  of  oleomar- 
garine butter;  and  the  other  to  influence  the  public  in 
the  future  to  hesitate  to  accept  the  imaginary  results  of 
an  ignorant  amateur.  The  microscope,  then,  estab- 
lishes the  absolute  purity  of  oleomargarine  butter. 
What  now  can  chemical  analysis  say?  The  result  of 
a  careful  qualitative  analysis  conducted  by  myself  has 
demonstarted  that  every  constituent  found  in  natural 
butter  is  to  be  found  in  the  artificial  products.  This 
being  the  case,  let  us  turn  our  attention  to  quantitative 
analysis,  and  see  how  each  constituent  compares  with 
each  other  as  to  quantity  present. 

"  The  following  analyses  which  I  have  just  conducted 
of  natural  and  artificial  butter  are  the  most  elaborate 
which  have  yet  been  made : 

ANALYSES    OF  NATURAL  AND  ARTIFICIAL  BUTTER,  BY  DR.  H.  A.  MOTT,  JR. 

No.  i.  No.  2. 

Constituents.                                         Natural  Artificial 

Butter.  Butter. 

Water 11,968  11,203 

Butter  solids 88,032  88,797 

100. ooo     100.000 

{Olein 
Stearine 
Arachin ^51.422         56.29 
Myristin 

(  Butyrin ) 

Sol.  fats . . . .  )  Caprin ( 


,8,3 


\  Caprylin          

Casein   192  .621 

Salt .   5.162  5.162 

Coloring  matter Trace.  Trace. 

88.032  88.797 


27 

"  No.  i  is  calculated  to  the  same  percentage  of  salt 
as  No.  2. 

"  By  examining  the  above  two  analyses  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  artificial  butter  contains  a  somewhat  larger  per- 
centage of  butter  solids.  The  percentage  of  soluble  fats 
which  was  determined  by  Herner's  new  method  in 
artificial  butter  is  somewhat  less  than  in  the  natural  prod- 
uct— quite  sufficient,  though,  to  give  the  product  a  good 
flavor  and  aroma,  but  hardly  sufficient,  when  decom- 
posed, to  render  the  product  rancid;  and  it  is  for  this 
reason  that  oleomargarine  butter  keeps  so  much  longer 
than  natural  butter.  Chemical  analysis  joined  with  the 
microscope  to  prove  the  identity  of  natural  and  artificial 
butter,  and  demonstrate  the  absolute  purity  of  the  latter. 
It  is  to  be  hoped,  in  the  face  of  these  facts,  especially 
when  the  Board  of  Health  pronounces  it  a  pure  and 
wholesome  article  of  food,  that  all  further  controversy  is 
at  an  end  forever.  It  will  be  so  to  science,  and  also  to 
all  honest  and  fair-minded  dealers,  but  not  to  men  whose 
avarice  is  paramount  to  principle.  So  long  as  they  can 
realize  their  five  and  ten  per  cent,  on  the  400,000,000 
pounds  of  impure,  rancid  butter,  just  so  long  will  they 
endeavor  to  hunt  up  Michell  in  every  shape  and  form, 
having  no  regard  whatever  for  the  health  of  the  great 
masses  of  people  to  whom  such  impurities  are  dealt  out." 


Prof.  Morley,  of  Hudson,  Ohio,  a  distinguished  chem- 
ist and  microscopist,  writes: 

"  I  could  distinguish  no  crystal  of  oleomargarine,  and  no  other  sub- 
stance except  fragments  of  crystals  of  salt.  The  microscope  shows 
nothing  which  should  justify  any  prejudice  against  oleomargarine 
butter." 


28 

Prof.  Thomas  Taylor,  a  microscopist  in  the  Agricul- 
tural Department  at  Washington,  after  making  a 
thorough  investigation  of  oleomargarine  butter  manu- 
factured by  the  American  Manufacturing  Company  of 
Baltimore,  says : 

"  It  is  my  conviction  that  oleomargarine  butter  is  destined,  at  no 
distant  day,  to  be  placed  side  by  side  with  the  best  creamery  butter, 
and  drive  out  of  the  market  all  inferior  grades." 

Prof.  Peter  Collier,  chemist  of  the  Agricultural  De- 
partment at  Washington,  submitted  to  Commissioner 
Le  Due  a  report  of  a  comparative  analysis  of  oleomar- 
garine and  dairy  butter.  Both  he  and  Prof.  Taylor 
agree  in  the  statement  that  the  artificial  butter  submitted 
to  analysis  shows  no  marked  deviation  from  ordinary 
pure  butter  as  found  in  the  market,  and  there  is  no  evi- 
dence of  anything  injurious  or  abnormal. 

The  Board  of  Health  of  New  York,  of  which  Prof. 
C.  F.  Chandler  is  president,  having  been  requested  by 
the  New  York  State  Senate  to  investigate  oleomargarine 
butter  as  to  its  purity  and  wholesomeness,  reported 


ARTICLE    OF    FOOD." 


Yet  it  is  on  such  authority  as  Michell's,  a  man  of  no 
scientific  attainments  or  pursuits,  that  G.  T.  Angell  made 
such  statements  before  the  Association  at  Saratoga. 
Evidently  he  must  have  been  ignorant  of  the  standing 
and  attainments  of  the  author  from  whom  he  was  quot- 
ing. /If  the  investigations  of  amateurs  such  as  Michell 
are  to  have  weight  and  bearing  against  the  testimony  of 
such  an  array  of  known  scientists,  then  science  is  turned 
into  ridicule. 


29 

We  are  led  to  ask,  Why  this  opposition  to  an  industry 
in  the  face  of  such  cumulative  and  undoubted  testi- 
mony as  to  its  merits?  Either  oleomargarine  butter  is 
a  meritorious  article  of  commerce,  or  it  is  a  base  fraud. 
If  there  is  any  reliance  to  be  placed  on  testimony  at  all, 
and  if  we  are  to  judge  from  evidence,  it  is  clearly  a  set- 
tled fact  that  it  is  found  to  be  an  eminently  wholesome 
product.  Hyppolite  Mege,  of  Paris,  France,  who 
brought  to  light  this  law  of  nature — that  the  fat  of 
cattle  is  the  origin  and  only  source  of  butter — on  this 
discovery  alone,  aside  from  his  other  efforts  in  behalf  of 
science,  established  his  position  as  one  of  the  first 
chemists  in  the  world. 

We  are  not  surprised  that  the  ordinary  mind  cannot 
grasp  and  understand 

SO    GRAND    A    DISCOVERY, 

which  is  in  direct  conflict  with  the  recognized  method 
of  making  butter.  But  what  shall  be  said  of  merchants 
who  deal  in  this  article,  and  whose  avarice  would 
prompt  them  to  combat  the  manufacture  of  an  article 
which  must  prove  so  beneficial  to  the  people. 
^  It  is  now  an  assured  success,  and  is  driving  out  of 
market  a  large  proportion  of  ordinary  butter.  The 
London  Grocer  of  January  5,  1878,  the  greatest  of  com- 
mercial papers,  calls  it  the  butter  of  the  future,  and 
recommends  its  use  in  the  strongest  terms.  The 
authorities  given  prove  that  it  goes  farther  as  an  article 
of  food,  and  remains  pure  and  sweet  much  longer,.than 
ordinary  butter,  which  keeps  but  a  few  days  in  a  warm 
climate  before  rancidity  and  decomposition  take  place. 
Prof.  Arnold,  Secretary  of  the  American  Dairy  Associa- 


30 

tion,  in  his  annual  report,  makes  the  remarkable  state- 
ment that  out  of  800,000,000  of  pounds,  the  annual  pro- 
duction in  this  country,  but  five  per  cent,  is  a  perfect 
article  of  food.  But  what  becomes  of  the  unwholesome 
ninety-five  per  cent.  ?  It  is  this  vast  aggregate  of  impure 
food  that  oleomargarine  is  driving  out  of  the  markets. 
Its  opponents  admit  that  for  the  year  1878,  90,000,000 
pounds  of  this  product  was  consumed  in  this  country 
alone,  while  a  larger  amount  was  exported  to  Germany, 
France,  and  Holland,  where  it  was  churned  into  butter, 
and  thence  transported  to  England.  It  is  stated,  in  a 
foreign  commercial  journal  of  March  i,  1878,  that  two 
butter-making  firms  of  Holland  exported  weekly  to  the 
United  Kingdom  an  amount  representing  ,£25,000,  or 
$125,000,  including  both  natural  and  artificial  butter. 
For  the  manufacture  of  artificial  butter  these  two  firms 
use  daily  20,000  kilogrammes  of  oleomargarine,  and 
8,000  liters  of  new  milk.  This  industry  bears,  in  a  most 
important  manner, 

UPON  THE  CATTLE  INTERESTS 

of  this  country.  Within  the  past  few  years  an  enormous 
demand  has  been  created  abroad  for  canned  meat,  fresh 
beef,  and  live  cattle.  Hundreds  of  thousands  are  annu- 
ally required  to  meet  this  want.  One  company,  the 
East  St.  Louis  Canning  Company,  slaughters  daily  700 
head  of  cattle,  or  about  2,500,000  during  the  year,  and 
exports  the  greater  portion  in  the  shape  of  canned 
meats.  The  result  is  that  beef  in  our  market  com- 
mands a  much  higher  price  in  proportion  than  other 
articles  of  food.  To  produce  a  larger  supply  is  a  prob- 
lem of  easy  solution  to  the  farmers.  Let  them  cease  to 


31 

slaughter  millions  of  calves  annually  before  they  are  fit 
for  food,  and  raise  them  on  the  milk  from  which  butter 
has  been  taken. 

If  the  old  method  of  producing  butter  cannot  main- 
tain itself  without  misrepresentations  and  special  State 
enactments,  then  it  should  and  will  disappear,  and  give 
place  to  the  new  product,  by  which  the  people  are  fur- 
nished a  pure  and  wholesome  butter.  If  the  bitter  and 
unjust  opposition  waged  against  this  industry  had  been 
brought  to  bear  against  all  new  labor-saving  methods, 
then  long  since  we  should  have  cast  aside  the  reaper 
and  gone  back  to  the  sickle.  In  like  manner  the  mower 
would  have  been  replaced  by  the  scythe.  Such  opposi- 
tion invites  us  to  follow  a  blind  prejudice  which  seeks 
to  destroy  every  innovation ;  but  the  world  moves,  and 
old  methods  are  being  daily  forced  to  recognize  the 
merits  of  the  new.  Therefore,  the  manufacture  of 
oleomargarine  butter  should  be  gladly  welcomed  as  an 
important  and  valuable  industry,  believing  that  it  will 
meet  a  great  want  by  furnishing  a  pure  and  wholesome 
butter. 


33 


INDORSEMENT    OF     OLEMARGARINE 

BY   THE 

PRODUCE   EXCHANGE. 


WHEREAS,  The  manufacture  of  oleomargarine  and 
oleomargarine  butter,  or  butterine,  has  been  indorsed 
by  men  eminent  in  science,  as  the  following  certificates 
show ; 

Therefore,  we,  members  of  the  New  York  Produce 
Exchange,  hereby  recognize  the  said  product  as  a  pure 
and  wholesome  article  of  food,  and  of  value  to  com- 


merce. 


NAMES. 


John  Anderson, 
James  Thallon, 
Fowler  Bros., 
Thomas  &  Co., 
Wm.  Miller, 
Alex.  D.  Corson, 
Cecil  Rowson, 
John  M.  &  Henry  Webb, 
Osborn  Bros., 

F.  Kiorboe, 
David  Muir, 
John  Orpe, 
John  G.  Dale, 
E.  T.  Hopkins, 
A.  H.  Turner, 
Thos.  D.  Harrison, 

H.  K.  &  F.  B.  Thurber  &  Co., 
C.  F.  Emerson  &  Co., 
John  Cahill, 
Peter  Jones, 

G.  H.  Crichton, 
Knapp  &  Co., 
C.  H.  Johnson, 
Fred  Stephenson, 
Gould  H.  Thorp  &  Co., 
E.  A.  Johnson, 


ADDRESS. 

7  Bowling  Green. 
17  Moore  St. 
17  Broadway. 
5  Bowling  Green. 
13  Moore  St. 
13  Moore  St. 
35  Broadway. 
5  Bowling  Green. 
5  Bowling  Green. 
5  Bowling  Green. 

2  Broadway. 

3  Broadway. 

31  and  33  Broadway. 

3  Bowling  Green. 

12  Bridge  St. 

27  Water  St. 

West  Broadway  and  Reade, 

31  Water  St. 

42  Whitehall  St. 

i  Water  St. 

30  Whitehall  St. 
in  Broad  St. 
27  Front  St. 

31  Front  St. 
109  Broad  St. 
109  Broad  St. 


34 


NAMES. 


Theo.  Perry, 

John  F.  Levers, 

John  A.  Sullivan, 

Theophilus  M.  Marc, 

Thomas  Whitman, 

Geo.  McGrath, 

V.  W.  McFarlane, 

G.  M.  Merrielees, 

W.  E.  Adams, 

James  B.  Bouck, 

J.  W.  Follett, 

C.  W.  Strachan, 

C.  H.  Cadwell, 

Auguste  Vatable, 

Geo.  H.  Webster, 

H.  P.  Low, 

John  H.  Emanuel, 

John  Goggin, 

Geo.  F.  Patrick, 

Peter  Brett, 

William  H.  Fox, 

Alfred  Churchman, 

Jno.  A.  Cooper, 

Chas.  D.  Sabin, 

Goulard,  Rouse  &  Bostwick, 

G.  F.  Bechtel,  Jr., 

F.  A.  Lowe, 

C.  E.  Cole, 

E.  Mathews, 

Wm.  P.  Bensel, 

E.  A.  Wallis, 

Edward  Read, 

Christ.  F.  Tietjen, 

O.  H.  Blackman, 

E.  B.  Terrill, 

Asa  Stevens, 

Jas.  Edmiston, 

Thos.  I.  McGrath, 

S.  Van  Brunt, 

J.  A.  Sperry, 

L.  J.  Rice, 

M.  S.  Popham, 

W.  S.  Cobb, 

Jos.  S.  Thayer, 

R.  F.  Martin, 

Geo.  C..  Stedge, 

C.  B.  Lathrop, 

Chas.  A.  Smith, 

W.  S.  Bracken, 


ADDRESS. 

15  Water. 
31  Water  St. 
13  Whitehall  St. 
43  Exchange  Place. 
13  Whitehall  St. 
12  Front  St. 

19  South  William  St, 
Exchange  Building. 
17  Moore  St. 

in  Broad  St. 
38  Whitehall  St. 
82  Broad  St. 
115  Broad  St. 
82  Beaver  St. 
129  Broad  St. 
31  Water  St. 
131  Pearl  St. 
38  Whitehall  St. 
37  Whitehall  St. 
37  Whitehall  St. 

20  Platt  St. 
17  Moore  St. 
9  Water  St. 
25  Water  St. 

36  Whitehall  St. 
109  Water  St. 
31  Water  St. 
41  Broad  St. 
65  Beaver  St. 
350  Washington  St. 
67  Pearl  St. 
115  Broad  St. 
i  Leonard  St. 
200  Forsyth  St. 
72  Beaver  St. 
86  Broad  St. 
70  Beaver  St. 
172  Reade  St. 
59  Beaver  St. 
New  Haven. 
28  Moore  St. 
80  Broad  St. 
499  Washington  St. 
129  Broad  St. 
129  Broad  St. 
115  Broad  St. 
122  Broad  St. 
115  Broad  St. 
52  Exchange  Place. 


35 


NAMES. 

Chas.  Spear, 
A.  Sinclair, 
Robert  R.  Phillips, 
F.  W.  Cummuskey, 
Geo.  N.  Carhart, 
J.  W.  Alt, 
Thos.  E.  Cole, 

E.  S.  Whitman, 
Benj.  Hicks, 
Rob't  S.  Fish, 
Archibald  Harris, 
C.  Medcafe, 
Thomas  Martin, 

F.  Fortman, 

H.  G.  M.  Linton, 
I.  &  C.  Moore  &  Co,, 

E.  T.  Barrows, 
J.  C.  Gale, 
Archibald  Baxter, 
Bechstein  &  Co. 
W.  H.  McNeil, 
H.  J.  Hayne, 
Thos.  Rafferty, 

S.  F.  Havens, 
Wm.  Hardy, 
Wm.  Williamson, 

G.  Speckel, 
Jos.  Lockitt, 
G.  Perry, 

Frederick  W.  Phillips, 
Samuel  Goodhue, 

L.  G.  Biglow, 
W.  C.  Smith  &  Co., 
Henry  Dillon, 
Levi  G.  Burgess, 

F.  A.  Van  Idenstine, 
Edward  H.  Bunker,. 
Henry  C.  Frink, 

C.  W.  Biglow, 
Chas.  W.  Kurtz, 
F.  W.  Kriege, 
J.  Hess, 

Snow  &  Burgess, 
C.  D.  Georgiades, 
J.  B.  Smull, 
R.  Parkinson, 
F.  P.  Albert, 
P.  M.  Millspaugh, 
C.  A.  Kimball, 


ADDRESS. 

85  West  St. 
14  Moore  St. 
64  Beaver  St. 
58  Greenwich  St. 
19  Broadway. 
3  State  St. 
35  Broad  St. 

159  Front  St. 
165  Broad  St. 
60  Beaver  St. 

189  and  191  Front  St. 

39  Pearl  St. 
189  Front  St. 

27  South  William  St. 
33  Nassau  St. 
142  Pearl  St. 
60  Beaver  St. 
Pier  30,  North  River. 
17  Broadway. 
100  Hudson  St. 
641  West  38th  St. 

1 60  Front  St. 

44th  St.  and  E.  River. 
115  Broad  St. 
51  Pearl  St. 

63  Pearl  St. 
44  Beaver  St. 

184  Fulton  St.,  Brooklyn. 

19  Old  Slip. 

31  Moore  St. 

13  Water  St. 

35  Broadway. 

53  Exchange  Place. 

29  Front  St. 
66  South  St. 

272  Hudson  St.,  Brooklyn, 

64  Beaver  St. 

30  Broadway. 

40  Broadway. 
25  Pearl  St. 

5  William  St. 
17  South  William  St. 
60  South  St. 
Produce  Exchange. 

31  and  33  Broadway. 
40  Whitehall  St. 

13  Moore  St. 
1 6  Broadway. 
127  Water  St. 


NAMES. 

C.  D.  Moulton, 
Stephen  Whitman, 
F.  X.  Schedler, 
M.  Groh. 

D.  K.  Baker, 

E.  W.  Mascord, 
R.  H.  Hazeltine, 
E.  R.  Livermore, 
R.  W.  Kennedy, 

J.  A.  Chamberlain, 

Lockitt  &  Co.,  Packers, 

Chamberlain,  Roe  &  Co., 

W.  Cockle, 

A.  A.  Jones, 

Thos.  C.  Dow, 

A.  D.  Sterlin, 

E.  B.  Pearsall, 

E.  G.  Burgess, 

C.  B.  Hancock, 

W.  H.  Story, 

Henry  B.  Hebert, 

Ira  Olds  &  Co., 

S.  B.  Joseph, 

J.  E.  Jenkins, 

Paul  Worth, 

H.  L.  Daniels, 

E.  S.  Herrick, 

E.  Munn, 
A.  S.  Jewell, 
A.  R.  Gray, 
Wm.  M.  Deverall, 
Lillienthal  Bros.  &  Stern, 

F.  L.  Whittemore, 

E.  H.  Walker, 

G.  H.  Roberts, 
H.  C.  Hicks, 

F.  D.  Winchester, 
E.  Ibbotson, 

C.  H.  Blanchard, 
P.  Westervelt, 
C.  N.  Sheppard, 
Jno.  J.  Ferris, 
E.  C.  Beile, 
W.  Eismann, 
S.  W.  Hoyt,  ' 
H.  Sabin, 


ADDRESS. 

40  Broadway. 
99  Pearl  St. 
32  Pearl  St. 
80  Beaver  St. 
335  Greenwich  St. 
2  State  St. 
3 1. Pearl  St. 
119  Broad  St. 
145  Reade  St. 
25  Pearl  St. 
Brooklyn. 
25  Pearl  St. 
124  Front  St. 
in  Broad  St. 
Exchange  Place. 

1  Moore  St. 
46  Front  St. 
35  Pearl  St. 

2  Broadway. 

2  Broadway. 
14  Moore  St. 

17  Broadway. 
13  Moore  St. 
6 1  Beaver  St. 

18  William  St. 

1 8  William  St. 
ii  State  St. 

6 1  Beaver  St. 
27  Water  St. 
no  Broad  St. 
134  Pearl  St. 
Cedar  St. 

4  State  St. 

38  Whitehall  St. 

3  Front  St. 
71  Broadway. 
38  Whitehall  St. 
69  Broadway. 

6  Bowling  Green. 

19  Broadway. 

5  Bowling  Green. 
37  Pearl  St. 

43  Exchange  Place. 
150  Broome  St. 
Hudson  &  Duane  Sts. 
25  Water. 


And  many  others. 


OLEOMARGARINE  BUTTER. 


Answer  of  Prof  .  Chandler  to  a  Congressional  Inquiry. 

Hon.  Morgan  R.  Wise  of  Pennsylvania,  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Manufactures  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  addressed  a  letter  to  Prof.  Charles  F. 
Chandler,  President  of  the  New  York  Board  of  Health, 
informing  him  that  the  Committee  has  under  considera- 
tion a  bill  in  relation  to  adulterations  in  food  and  drink, 
and  asking  whether  the  article  known  as  oleomargarine, 
or  butterine,  is  wholesome  or  unwholesome,  and  for  such 
other  information  as  might  be  in  the  possession  of  the 
Board.  The  following  is  Prof.  Chandler's  response : 

HEALTH  DEPARTMENT,  301  MOTT  STREET, 

NEW  YORK,  March  27,  1880. 
MY  DEAR  SIR: 

In  reply  to  your  letter  of  inquiry,  I  would  say  that  I 
have  been  familiar  with  the  discovery  of  Mege  Mauries, 
and  its  application  in  the  manufacture  of  artificial  butter, 
called  "  butterine,"  or  "  oleomargarine,"  since  the  date 
of  its  first  publication. 

I  have  frequently  seen  it  manufactured,  witnessing 
all  the  operations,  and  examining  both  the  material  and 
the  product. 

I  have  studied  the  subject  with  special  reference  to 


4 

the  question  of  its  use  as  food,  in  comparison  with  the 
ordinary  butter  made  from  cream,  and  have  satisfied 
myself  that  it  is  quite  as  valuable  as  the  butter  from 
the  cow ;  that  the  material  from  which  it  is  manufac- 
tured is  perfectly  fresh  beef  suet;  that  the  processes 
are  harmless ;  that  the  manufacture  is  conducted  with 
great  cleanliness.  The  product  is  palatable  and  whole- 
some, and  I  regard  it  as  a  most  valuable  article  of  food, 
and  consider  the  discovery  of  Mege  Mauries  as  mark- 
ing an  era  in  the  chemistry  of  the  fats. 

Butterine  is  manufactured  of  uniform  quality  the 
year  round,  and  can  be  sold  at  a  price  far  below  that 
at  which  ordinary  butter  is  sold.  It  does  not  readily 
become  rancid,  and  is  free  from  the  objectionable  taste 
and  odor  which  characterize  a  large  proportion  of  the 
butter  sold  in  this  market. 

I  am  informed  that  there  are  at  present  thirteen  fac- 
tories in  the  United  States  licensed  under  the  patents 
to  manufacture  this  butter.  The  Commercial  Manu- 
facturing Company  of  New  York  is  making  at  the 
present  from  30,000  to  40,000  Ibs.  daily.  In  addition 
to  this  industry,  there  is  a  large  manufacture  of  what 
is  known  as  "  oleomargarine  oil,"  which  is  shipped  as 
such  to  Europe,  to  be  there  converted  into  butter ;  so 
that  this  product  has  become  an  important  article  of 
export  to  foreign  countries. 

The  beef  suet  which  was  formerly  converted  into 
common  tallow,  only  suitable  for  the  manufacture  of 
soap,  is,  by  this  beautiful  discovery,  now  manufactured 
into  oleomargarine  oil  and  stearine,  of  double  the  value 
of  the  tallow  formerly  produced.  The  following  anal- 
yses, made  by  Drs.  Brown  and  Mott,  sufficiently  illus- 
trate the  composition  of  the  biitterine: 


Constituents. 

Butter. 

Water 1 1.968 

Butter  solids 88.032 


No.  i.         No.  2. 
Natural     Artificial 
Butter. 
11.203 
88.797 


IOO.OOO       IOO.OOO 


f 


™™tin:::::::::.:v.v:.f  »3.s*4  ^ 

Insol.  fats .  .  <  Stearine ...    

I  Arachin ^51.422       56.29 

VMyristin 

{Butyrin 
cS»;;: ::::::::;•;::{  *•«' 
Caprylin ) 

Casein 192 

Salt 5.162 

Coloring  matter Trace. 


1.823 

.621 
5.162 

Trace. 


88.032       88.797 

Last  winter  a  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  State  of  New  York,  requesting  the  Board 
of  Health  of  the  city  of  New  York  to  investigate  the 
subject,  and  report  whether,  in  its  opinion,  the  butterine 
is  a  wholesome  article  of  food.  In  response  to  this 
resolution,  the  Board  of  Health  stated  that  in  its  opin- 
ion there  is  no  sanitary  objection  whatever  to  the  unre- 
stricted manufacture  and  sale  of  this  substance. 

In  support  of  my  opinion  herein  expressed,  I  inclose 
the  statement  to  the  same  effect  made  by  Prof.  George 
F.  Barker,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania;  Dr. 
Henry  A.  Mott,  Jr.,  of  New  York ;  Prof.  S.  C.  Caldwell, 
of  Cornell  University;  Prof.  S.  W.  Johnson,  of  Yale 
College ;  Prof.  C.  A.  Goessmann,  of  the  Massachusetts 
Agricultural  College ;  Prof.  Henry  Morton,  of  the  Stev- 
ens Institute  of  Technology  of  Hoboken  ;  Dr.  Chas. 
P.  Williams  of  Philadelphia;  Prof.  W.  O.  At  water,  of 
the  Wesleyan  University  at  Middletown,  Conn. ;  and 


Prof.  J.  W.  S.  Arnold,  of  the   Medical   Department  of 
the  University  of  New  York. 

Hoping  that  this   my  reply  contains  all  the  informa 
tion  you  desire,  I  remain, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

CH.    F.   CHANDLER,    PH.    D., 

Prest.  of  the  Board  of  Health. 

To  HON.  M.  R.  WISE, 

Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Manufactures, 
House  of  Representatives,  Washington,  D.  C. 


[Letter  from  Prof.  Barker.] 

UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA, 

PHILADELPHIA,  March  22,  1880. 
THE  UNITED  STATES  DAIRY  Co. 

G-entlemen :  In  reply  to  your  inquiry,  I  would  say  that  I  have 
been  acquainted  for  several  years  with  the  discovery  of  Me'ge 
Mauries  for  producing  butterine  from  oleomargarine  fat.  In  theory, 
the  process  should  yield  a  product  resembling  butter  in  all  essential 
respects,  having  identically  the  same  fatty  constituents.  The  but- 
terine prepared  under  the  inventor's  patents  is,  therefore,  in  my 
opinion,  quite  as  valuable  a  nutritive  agent  as  butter  itself.  In 
practice,  the  process  of  manufacture,  as  I  have  witnessed  it,  is  con- 
ducted with  care  and  great  cleanliness.  The  butterine  produced  is 
pure  and  of  excellent  quality,  is  perfectly  wholesome,  and  is  desira- 
ble as  an  article  of  food.  I  can  see  no  reason  why  butterine  should 
not  be  an  entirely  satisfactory  equivalent  for  ordinary  butter,  whether 
considered  from  the  physiological  or  commercial  standpoint. 
Respectfully  yours, 

GEORGE  F.  BARKER. 


[Letter  from  Prof.  Morton.] 

STEVENS  INSTITUTE  OF  TECHNOLOGY, 
HOBOKEN,  NEW  JERSEY,  March  16,  1880. 
UNITED  STATES  DAIRY  Co. 

G-entleman :   During  the  last  three  years  I  have  had  occasion  to 
examine  the  product  known  as  artificial  butter,  oleomargarine,  or 


butterine,  first  produced  by  M.  Mege,  of  Paris,  and  described  by 
him  in  his  patent  of  July  17,  1869. 

I  have  also  frequently  witnessed  the  manufacture  of  this  material, 
and  with  these  opportunities  of  knowing  exactly  what  it  is,  I  am 
able  to  say  with  confidence  that  it  contains  nothing  whatever  which 
is  injurious  as  an  article  of  diet ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  essentially 
identical  with  the  best  fresh  butter,  and  is  very  superior  to  much  of 
the  butter  made  from  cream  alone  which  is  found  in  the  market. 

The  conditions  of  its  manufacture  involve  a  degree  of  cleanliness 
and  consequent  purity  in  the  product  such  as  are  by  no  means  nec- 
essarily or  generally  attained  in  the  ordinary  making  of  butter  from 
cream.  Yours,  etc., 

HENRY  MORTON. 


{Letter  from  Prof.  Johnson.'] 

SHEFFIELD  SCIENTIFIC  SCHOOL  OF  YALE  COLLEGE, 

NEW  HAVEN,  CONNECTICUT,  March  20, 1880 . 
THE  UNITED  STATES  DAIRY  Co. 

G-entlemen :  I  am  acquainted  with  the  process  discovered  by  M. 
Mege  for  producing  the  article  known  in  commerce  as  oleomargarine, 
or  butterine. 

I  have  witnessed  the  manufacture  in  all  its  stages,  as  carried  out 
on  the  large  scale,  and  I  can  assert  that  when  it  is  conducted  ac- 
cording to  the  specifications  of  M.  Mege,  it  cannot  fail  to  yield  a 
product  that  is  entirely  attractive  and  wholesome  as  food,  and  one 
that  is  for  all  ordinary  culinary  and  nutritive  purposes  the  full  equiv- 
alent of  good  butter  made  from  cream. 

Oleomargarine  butter  has  the  closest  resemblance  to  butter  made 
from  cream  in  its  external  qualities — color,  flavor,  and  texture.  It 
has  the  same  appearance  under  the  microscope,  and  in  chemical 
composition  differs  not  in  the  nature,  but  only  in  the  proportions  of 
its  components.  It  is  therefore  fair  to  pronounce  them  essentially 
identical. 

While  oleomargarine  contains  less  of  those  flavoring  principles 
which  characterize  the  choicest  butter,  it  is,  perhaps,  for  that  very 
reason,  comparatively  free  from  the  tendency  to  change  and  taint  which 
speedily  renders  a  large  proportion  of  butter  unfit  for  human  food. 

I  regard  the  manufacture  of  oleomargarine  or  butterine  as  a 
legitimate  and  beneficent  industry. 

S.  W.  JOHNSON, 

Professor  of  Theoretical  and  Agricultural  Chemistry;  Director  of  tlie  Connec- 
ticut Agricultural  Experiment  Station. 


8 

[Letter  from  Prof.  CaldwelL] 

CHEMICAL  LABRATORY,  CORNELL  UNIVERSITY, 
ITHACA,  N.  Y.,  March  20, 1880. 

I  have  witnessed,  in  all  its  stages,  the  manufacture  of  "  oleomar- 
garine "  and  of  oleomargarine  butter,  or  u  butterine." 

The  process  for  oleomargarine  when  properly  conducted,  as  in  the 
works  of  the  Commercial  Manufacturing  Co.,  is  cleanly  throughout, 
and  includes  every  reasonable  precaution  necessary  to  secure  a 
product  entirely  free  from  animal  tissue,  or  any  other  impurity,  and 
which  shall  consist  of  pure  fat  made  up  of  the  fats  commonly  known 
as  oleine  and  margarine.  It  is,  when  thus  prepared,  a  tasteless  and 
inodorous  substance,  possessing  no  qualities  whatever  that  can  make 
it  in  the  least  degree  unwholesome,  when  used  in  reasonable  quanti- 
ties, as  an  article  of  food. 

In  the  manufacture  of  butterine,  since  nothing  but  milk,  annotto, 
and  salt,  together  with  perhaps  a  little  water  from  clean  ice,  are 
added  to  this  oleomargarine,  to  be  intimately  mixed  with  it  by  churning 
and  other  operations,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  affirming  that  this  also, 
when  properly  made  according  to  the  M£ge  patent  and  other 
patents  held  by  the  United  States  Dairy  Co.,  and  when  used  in  rea- 
sonable quantities,  is  a  perfectly  wholesome  article  of  food  ;  and 
that,  while  not  equal  to  fine  butter  in  respect  to  flavor,  it  neverthe- 
less contains  all  the  essential  ingredients  of  butter ;  and  since  it  con- 
tains a  smaller  proportion  of  volatile  fats  than  is  found  in  genuine 
butter,  it  is,  in  my  opinion,  less  liable  to  become  rancid. 

It  cannot  enter  into  competition  with  fine  butter ;  but  in  so  far  as 
it  may  serve  to  drive  poor  butter  out  of  the  market,  its  manufacture 
will  be  a  public  benefit.  S.  C.  CALDWELL. 


[Letter  from  Prof.  G-oessmann.] 

AMHERST,  MASS.,  March  20,  1880. 
UNITED  STATES  DAIRY  Co.,  NEW  YORK. 

Gentlemen :  I  have  visited,  on  the  17th  and  18th  of  the  present 
month,  your  factory  on  West  Forty-eighth  Street,  for  the  purpose 
of  studying  your  mode  of  applying  Mege's  discovery  for  the  manu- 
facture of  oleomargarine  butter,  or  butterine.  A  careful  examination 
into  the  character  of  the  material  turned  to  account,  as  well  as  into 
the  details  of  the  entire  management  of  the  manufacturing  operation, 
has  convinced  me  that  your  product  is  made  with  care,  and  furnishes 
thus  a  wholesome  article  of  food.  Your  oleomargarine  butter,  or 
butterine,  compares  in  general  appearance  and  in  taste  very  favor- 


ably  with  the  average  quality  of  the  better  kinds  of  the  dairy  butter 
in  our  markets.  In  its  composition  it  resembles  that  of  the  ordinary 
dairy  butter  ;  and  in  its  keeping  quality,  under  corresponding  cir- 
cumstances, I  believe  it  will  surpass  the  former ;  for  it  contains  a 
smaller  percentage  of  those  constituents  (glycerides  of  volatile  acids) 
which,  in  the  main,  cause  the  well-known  rancid  taste  and  odor  of  a 
stored  butter. 

I  am,  very  respectfully  yours, 

C.  A.    GOESSMANN,   PH.  D., 

Professor  of  Chemistry. 


[Letter  from  Dr.  Williams.'] 

LABORATORY,  No.  912  SAMSON  STREET, 

PHILADELPHIA,  March  22,  1880. 

During  a  period  of  upwards  of  two  years  I  have  been  practically 
familiar  with  the  details  of  the  manufacture  by  the  M£ge  method  of 
oleomargarine  butter,  or  u  butterine."  From  my  experience  and 
observation  of  the  care  and  cleanliness  absolutely  necessary  in  the 
manufacture  of  this  product,  together  with  my  knowledge  of  its 
composition,  I  am  satisfied  that  it  is  a  pure  and  wholesome  article  of 
food,  and  in  this  respect,  as  well  as  in  respect  to  its  chemical  com- 
position, fully  the  equivalent  of  the  best  quality  of  dairy  butter. 

I  will  add  further,  that,  owing  to  the  presence  of  a  less  quantity 
of  the  volatile  fats,  the  keeping  qualities  of  the  oleomargarine  butter 
are  far  superior  to  those  of  the  dairy  product. 

CHARLES  P.   WILLIAMS,   PH.  D., 

Analytical  Chemist;  late  Director  and  Professor  Missouri  School  of  Mines, 

State  University. 


[Letter  from  Dr.  Mott.'] 

H.  A.  MOTT,  JR.,  PH.  D.,  E.  M., 

ANALYTICAL  AND  CONSULTING  CHEMIST, 

OFFICE,  117  WALL  STREET, 
NEW  YORK,  March  12,  1880. 
UNITED  STATES  DAIRY  Co. 

G-entlemen :  Having  been  acquainted  for  the  past  six  years  with 
the  process  of  the  manufacture  of  the  product  called  oleomargarine 
butter,  or  butterine,  and  having  made  numerous  microscopical  and 
chemical  examinations  of  the  product,  I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion 


1° 

that  the  product  called  oleomargarine  butter  is  essentially  identical 
with  butter  made  from  cream ;  and  as  the  former  contains  less  of 
those  fats  which,  when  decomposed,  render  the  product  rancid,  it 
can  be  kept  pure  and  sweet  for  a  much  longer  time. 

I  consider  the  product  of  the  Me'ge  discovery  a  perfectly  pure 
and  wholesome  article  of  food,  which  is  destined  to  supplant  the 
inferior  grades  of  butter,  and  be  placed  side  by  side  with  the  best 
products  of  the  creamery. 

Kespectfully, 

HENRY  A.  MOTT,  JR.,  PH.  Dr 


[Letter  from  Prof.  Arnold.] 

UNIVERSITY  PHYSIOLOGICAL  LABORATORY, 

410  EAST  26TH  ST.,  April  2,  1880. 

This  is  to  certify  that  I  have  carefully  examined  the  '  *  Me'ge 
Patent  Process "  for  the  manufacture  of  oleomargarine  butter,  or 
butterine  ;  that  I  have  seen  and  tasted  at  the  factory  each  and 
every  ingredient  employed  ;  that  I  have  made  thorough  microscop- 
ical examinations  of  the  materials  used  and  of  the  butter ;  and  I 
consider  that  each  and  every  article  employed  in  the  manufacture  of 
oleomargarine  butter,  or  butterine,  is  perfectly  pure  and  wholesome  ; 
that  the  oleomargarine  butter  differs  in  no  essential  manner  from 
butter  made  from  cream ;  in  fact,  the  oleomargarine  butter  pos- 
sesses the  advantage  over  natural  butter  of  not  decomposing  so 
readily,  as  it  contains  fewer  volatile  fats.  In  my  opinion,  oleomar- 
garine is  to  be  considered  a  great  discovery,  a  blessing  for  the  poor, 
and  in  every  way  a  perfectly  pure,  wholesome,  and  palatable  article 
of  food. 

J.  W.  S.  ARNOLD,  A.M.,  M.D. 

Prof.  Physiology  and  Histology,  Med.  Dep.  Univ.  New  York. 


[Letter  from  Prof.  Atwater."] 

WESLEYAN  UNIVERSITY, 
MIDDLETOWN,  CONN.,  March  29,  1880. 

I  have  carefully  looked  into  the  theory  and  the  practice  of  the 
manufacture  of  butterine  (oleomargarine)  by  the  "Mege  process," 
and  examined  the  product.  A  consideration  of  the  materials  used, 
the  process  of  manufacture,  and  the  chemical  and  microscopical 


II 

character  of  the  butterine,  seem  to  me  to  fully  justify  the  following 
statements : 

As  to  its  qualitative  composition,  it  contains  essentially  the  same 
ingredients  as  natural  butter  from  cows'  milk. 

Quantitatively,  it  differs  from  ordinary  butter  in  having  but  little 
of  the  volatile  fats  which,  while  they  are  agreeable  in  flavor,  are,  at 
the  same  time,  liable  to  rancidity.  I  should,  accordingly,  expect 
butterine  to  keep  better  than  ordinary  butter.  The  best  evidence 
within  my  reach  indicates  that  just  such  is  the  case.  The  butterine 
is  perfectly  wholesome  and  healthy,  and  has  a  high  nutritious  value. 
The  same  entirely  favorable  opinion  I  find  expressed  by  the  most 
prominent  European  authorities — English,  French,  and  German — 
who  are  unanimous  in  their  high  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  "Me'ge 
discovery."  and  approval  of  the  material  whose  production  has  there- 
by been  made  practicable. 

I  am,  very  truly  yours, 

W.  0.   ATWATER. 


Award  of  the  American  Institute. 

OFFICE  OF  THE  GENERAL  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  THE 
AMERICAN  INSTITUTE  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK, 

NEW  YORK,  March  24,  1880. 

Copy  of  the  Judges'  Report  in  Department  VII.,  Group  3,  at  the 
Forty-seventh  Exhibition  of  the  American  Institute,  held  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  October  and  November,  1878. 

No.   879.— OLEOMARGARINE  BUTTER. 

COMMERCIAL  MANUFACTURING  Co., 
643  WEST  48TH  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 

The  oleomargarine  butter  (Mage's  process)  has  the  general 
appearance  of  the  usual  style  of  good  dairy  butter.  The  texture 
presents  some  slight  difference  to  the  eye  of  an  expert.  The  absence 
of  some  of  the  elements  which  give  the  peculiar  aroma  to  the  best 
quality  of  spring-grass  butter  tends  to  prevent  the  approach  of  any 
unpleasant  change  in  this  article,  and  it  is  thus  enabled  to  resist  the 
effects  of  time,  as-  upon  a  long  sea  voyage. 

We  have  examined  the  process  of  manufacture,  and  find  the  prod- 
uct clean  and  wholesome. 

While  the  best  quality  of  dairy  butter  must  still  maintain  its 
superiority,  any  departure  from  the  most  perfect  manufacture  will 
make  the  oleomargarine  a  dangerous  rival. 


12 


The  process  utilizes  valuable  animal  products,  and  makes  useful  in 
the  kitchen  and  upon  the  dining-table  much  that  was  formerly  used 
for  less  important  purposes ;  and  for  this  and  its  keeping  qualities  it 
should  receive  some  recognition  by  the  Institute. 


A.  8.  HEATH,  M.D., 
ROBERT  J.  DODGE, 
WILLET  SEAMAN, 


The  Medal  of  Excellence  Awarded. 
A  true  copy  of  the  report  on  file. 


Judges. 


D.  R.  GARDEN, 

Assistant,  Clerk. 


FEINBERG  &  WINTER, 

PACIFIC  COAST  AGENTS, 
205  FRONT  ST.,  San  Francisco. 


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